Chasing Shadows
by armpitgang
Summary: When Percy Jackson is brutally betrayed, the Fates decide to give Percy a second chance in the form of returning him to his twelve-year-old state. Pertemis.
1. Unprotected Brain Surgery

Percy was as confused as Nancy Bobofit was a bully.

Déjà vu just had to be the weirdest thing in existence. A few days ago, Percy had taken a test at Yancy Academy. Normal, right? Yeah, it would be, except Percy actually got all of the questions correct. Like, what? The only thing Percy ever got right were the questions about Greek mythology in Mr. Brunner's class – and that was only because it was the only class that didn't bore him to death.

But this wasn't Latin with Mr. Brunner. This was math. _Math_! The only thing he sucked at more than math was English, because of his gods be damned dyslexia. It was almost like his brain was hardwired for another langua- wait a minute.

Gods? Last Percy checked, the only "gods" out there were his teachers, and everyone else who could give him bad grades and/or detention – and even that was stretching it a bit. What other gods could there be? Silly Seaweed Brain.

Seaweed brain?

Percy rubbed his temples in an effort to stop confusing himself. He redirected his attention back to Mr. Brunner.

"-which proved to be a very effective method. Can anyone tell me specifically _why_ Kronos swallowed his children?" Percy knew this. He shot his hand up in the air. "Ah, yes, Percy."

"He had been warned by the earth goddess, _Gaea_ , that his children would grow very powerful one day and eventually overthrow him." He said the earth goddess' name with such hatred that it surprised even him. What did he have against an imaginary chick from mythology? Surely nothing, right?

 _Do not be so sure, Perseus._

Percy suddenly shot out of his seat. "What?! Who said that?" It sounded like the voice came from his head. The whole class looked at him like he was nuts.

"Said what, Percy?" Mr. Brunner looked at him curiously.

"Uh, nothing, Mr. Brunner. Nothing at all." He returned to his seat, dimly aware of his classmates laughing at him. "Uh, can I use the bathroom?"

" _May I,_ Percy. Yes, you may."

"Thanks."

Behind Percy, Mr. Brunner and Grover Underwood, Percy's best friend, exchanged looks of worry before Percy shut the classroom door behind him.

 **Line Break**

Percy laid on his bed, thinking, which was not something he did often. His thoughts kept returning to that voice in Mr. Brunner's class. " _Do not be so sure, Perseus."_ Why did he feel like he should recognize the voice? Where did it come from? What did it mean?

 _I am not an it, Perseus._

Percy bolted upright, reaching into his pocket for something unknown. "Who are you? What are you doing in my head?!"

 _I am you, Perseus. I am in your head because I am you._ The voice sounded sad, like she had lost a child and never managed to forgive herself.

"The Hades does that even mean?" Hades?

 _Calm down, Perseus. You will confuse the other students. You should go somewhere where we will not be interrupted._

"And just why should I listen to you?"

 _I did mention that I am you, did I not? I assure you, this is in your best interest, Perseus._

 _"_ Do I even have a choice, lady?"

 _Of course you do. You are in control, after all. We both know, however, that you want answers. I can help you find them. Now, go to the pool._

"The pool?"

 _Yes, Perseus. The pool._

 _"_ Okay then. To the pool I go... Should I bring, like, a towel, and all that stuff?" Percy waited for a response, but heard nothing. "Really? Whatever..." He grabbed a towel and a change of clothes and started towards Yancy Academy's pool. He really hoped there wasn't a class in session.

 **Line Break**

Thank the gods the pool was empty. Explaining to the coach that he wasn't in class because he had a voice in his head that told him to go to the pool would sounds _very_ odd. Besides, he'd been in detention enough that year.

"Alright, lady, I'm here. Now what?"

 _Don't call me lady, that's what._

"Hey, you call me Perseus. Besides, you never gave me your name..."

 _You can call me whatever you wish, Perseus. As long as it doesn't offend me._

Percy looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "You seem like a Karen. Karen?"

 _No._

"Oh, okay... Leslie?"

 _No._

"Uh... Anna?"

 _No._

"How many times am I going to have to try to get a name out of you? Gods, you're stubborn..." Percy thought about stubbornness and people he knew that showed that trait. There was Gabe, in his own way, but obviously Not-Karen-Leslie-or-Anna was not a dude. Now that Percy thought about it, he didn't actually know that many people. He was suddenly sad.

 _Do not feel bad, Perseus. You will meet your friends soon enough._

 _"_ What?"

 _I said, you will meet your friends soon enough._

"You're confusing me even more than I already am..." Percy's mind raced, and suddenly a name popped out of his mouth. "Lavender."

 _Lavender?_

"Yeah, Lavender. That's your name now. Sound good?"

 _Yes._

"Well, now that that's settled." A crooked victory grin appeared on his face. "What the Hades am I doing here?"

 _What do you feel, Perseus?_

"Annoyed."

 _Close your eyes, and listen to your thoughts. Embrace them._

Percy figured it couldn't really hurt to do what Lavender said. He closed his eyes, and listened to his thoughts. Names ran through his head; Chiron, Annabeth, Luke, Thalia, Bianca. Faces swirled around the names, but he couldn't put a face to any of them. He felt like he should know these people better than himself. The fact that he didn't upset him greatly – but he didn't know why.

 _These people are your friends. Well, most of them._

"I don't understand. I've never seen these people before in my life... Well, Chiron looks a lot like Mr. Brunner – but Mr. Brunner isn't a horse. Is he?"

 _You are correct, Perseus. In_ your _life, you have not._

If it was possible for Percy to be any more confused, nothing could exceed it anymore. "What the heck does that even mean, Lavender?"

 _Percy, you are intelligent. Or, at least, you were. That knowledge should be coming back to you. Think._

Percy thought, alright. He stood, thinking and staring at the pool water for about an hour, and didn't realize how much time had passed.

Until his legs decided to stop working.

You know how you when you trip going down the stairs, and you don't realize that you fell until you're at the bottom?

That's what it felt like. Except it was a hell of a lot more painful.

Percy felt like someone was performing brain surgery on him with a chainsaw. Everything was in pain. But, through the pain, he was remembering – Annabeth was the chick with blonde hair and startling grey eyes, who he quickly realized he never wanted to see again. Mr. Brunner was a centaur, Thalia was a daughter of Zeus, Bianca was someone who he couldn't save, and many other names, battles, all memories of a life that _apparently_ belonged to him – but most startling was his own blade protruding from his chest. By _her_ hands. Her grey eyes.

 **Author's Note:**

Hey guys! First _actual_ fanfic. My previous one was almost worse than Justin Bieber's latest single, but, this will be different, I promise. I have the entire story mapped out, the characters, everything. All I need to do is type it out. I want every chapter to be at least 1k words, which isn't much, but it's something. I also plan to keep this an ongoing fanfic – meaning I _will not ditch this._ Meaning, if anyone actually likes this fanfic, follow it! There _will_ be more, I promise. If you don't like it, then tell me what I did wrong, and I'll see what I can do about it. Retro signing off. :)


	2. Mrs Dodds Isn't an Asshole?

Percy was lost.

Not literally, of course. He was sitting on his bed at Yancy Academy. Mentally, Percy had no idea what he was, where he was, or even who he was. All he knew was that he was just given a second chance – and the only person who knew about it was him.

 _And me, of course._

Right, and then there was Lavender, the depressed voice inside of Percy's head who was apparently him. She had absolutely no problem with confusing Percy, and had even less of a problem with calling him by his full name and avoiding contractions. Maybe one day she'd call him Percy.

 _Not a chance._

Percy was battling with himself, attempting to figure out what decision to take.

He wanted to throw Annabeth off of Olympus, but the good part of him felt like she also deserved a second chance, just like him. Well, maybe not _just_ like him. The Fates probably wouldn't throw her back in time to fix her mistakes, like they did him.

Why in his father's name did they do that anyway?

His thoughts were interrupted by a certain satyr's alarm clock. Was it that time already? Was he up all night?

 _Yes, Perseus. You were awake all night long._

"Whoops."

Grover rolled to look in Percy's direction. "Do I actually not have to wake you up this morning?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "No, you old goat. I'm up." Percy quickly realized what he'd just said. He wasn't supposed to know Grover was a goat! "I'm going to go hop in the shower. We've gotta be at the museum in half an hour."

Grover apparently didn't realize Percy's slip-up, because he rolled over muttering something about enchiladas and fell back asleep.

 **Line Break** (because you guys don't need to read about Percy's shower time.)

The bus ride was great. Nancy Bobofit was chucking pieces of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at Grover, so Percy decided to punch her right in the nose. Grover tried to stop him, of course, but he was Percy's friend. No one messed with Percy's friends.

No one actually saw him hit her, because, well, he actually didn't. He made the water bottle in Nancy's backpack burst, soaking both her and her backpack. Serves her right!

 _That was mean, Perseus._

"Who cares if it was mean? She deserved it!"

Grover looked at him like he had just randomly said something weird out loud. "What was mean, Perce?"

 _You know, I can hear your thoughts… you do not need to say anything out loud._

"Oh." Percy said stupidly.

 _I just said that you did not need to open your mouth to speak with me…_ Lavender said, sounding slightly annoyed.

Grover looked worried. "Oh what, Percy?"

He looked at Grover and did what he was best at – came up with a lame excuse. "Yeah, I was, uh, practicing for English. Yeah, English. We had this assignment where you had to say stuff randomly out loud and see how the people around you reacted. I'm going to get an A!"

Grover looked convinced. "Dang right you are!"

 _Are you done making a fool out of yourself now, Perseus?_

 _Yeah, whoops…_

A few minutes later, the bus stopped in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. To Percy, it sounded like it could have been interesting. Except, he already knew everything Chir- I mean, Mr. Brunner, was talking about. I didn't say anything! No spoilers here!

Percy didn't say anything when Nancy snickered about the naked statues. He didn't feel like talking about Kronos today.

Mr. Brunner-Chiron decided it was a good time for lunch. Percy sat at the front steps of the museum, along with everyone else. He offered his apple to Grover, who gladly took it. That goat had a huge appetite…

Speaking of huge, Nancy Bobofit decided it'd be a great idea to dump her half-eaten lunch into Grover's lap. Who the hell even does that? Like, of all the things you could do to bully a goat in sixth grade, you dump your unfinished lunch in his lap?

 _You are getting off track, Retro._

Whoops.

Percy remembered that last time he did this, he got pissed and smacked Nancy with water, causing Mrs. Dodds to try and kill him, and that's when everyone started lying to him for his own "protection."

Well, not this time. This time, he decided to change it up.

"Hey, Mrs. Dodds?" The old math teacher looked in his direction. "Nancy just dropped a bunch of crap in Grover's lap. I think it's going to stain."

She scolded. "Trying to blame Miss Bobofit for your actions, Mr. Jackson? I don't think so. Come with me." She started up the stairs.

Percy sighed, and turned to an extremely worried Grover. "I'll be back in a few minutes, dude. I'll get this sorted out."

"Yeah, good luck, Jackson." Nancy sneered. "That's what you get for being a snitch!"

"Uh huh. Be right back, Nancy." Percy started up the stairs, following, Mrs. Dodds, who was already at the top. The narrator wondered how she got up there. Eh, she'd worry about explaining it later.

Percy followed Mrs. Dodds into the museum, waiting for a chance to strike. Once they arrived in the Greek and Roman section, Mrs. Dodds gave him an angry look. Percy just kind of stood there, waiting.

"Mr. Jackson. You've been causing us quite a few problems."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You will never get away with this, Percy Jackson."

He decided to play dumb. The less he knew, the better. "Get away with what?"

Mrs. Dodds gave a confused frown. "Do you actually not know?"

"I don't believe so, ma'am." This was different. She was definitely not confused last time.

"Oh. Well, in that case," She smiled. "I won't hurt you. What do you know about the Greek Gods, Percy?"

He shifted uneasily. _Lavender, what should I do?_

 _I think she wants to help you._

 _Why the heck would she want to do that?_

 _I do not know, Perseus. Follow along. It might prove useful._

"Not too much. Zeus is the king of them, Hades and Poseidon were his brothers, and the rest of the council were Zeus' children. They rule the world and stuff." She looked at him thoughtfully. "In mythology!" He added on quickly.

"Well, Percy, I'm sure you will learn quite a bit more about them soon. Now, I have a task for you. Listen carefully. Ask your mother about a place called Camp Half-blood. I understand you do not have a way to contact her, so take this." Mrs. Dodds pulled a cell phone out of the air. "Don't worry, Percy, I know you know more than you let on. This won't attract any monsters." She handed the phone to him. "You can do everything on it that you could do on a normal phone, except it won't make everything within a ten mile radius want to murder you."

He took it graciously. "Thank you, Mrs. Dodds."

"You are most certainly welcome. As I was saying, ask her to take you to Camp Half-blood. She will obviously be confused, so it would be a good idea to wait until the summer begins. Mention someone named Poseidon," she winked at him. "She won't question why you want to go, or how you found out about it. This deodorant," She handed him a stick of deodorant. It was labeled, 'Retro Stick'. Underneath it, it said, "Attract girls, repel monsters. Double knockout!" "Will keep monsters away from you, if you choose to avoid them. And that… should be it." She smiled. "My phone number is in there, so if you need anything, Percy, please call. I'm always available." No, that was not Alecto hitting on Percy. He's twelve, dammit! Well, sort of. He was sixteen when he died, so, mentally, I guess, he's sixteen. No old chicks for him! "Now, I've got to give a certain redhead detention. You can head back to the group, Percy.

As he walked out with Mrs. Dodds, he saw Mr. Brunner standing outside the door, holding a pen from the tip like he was about to throw it. Percy pretended not to notice, and kept walking towards Grover, with a smile on his face. He'd just made a new ally! That's one more than he had the first time around…

 **Author's Note:**

Hey guys! There's another chapter, up and running. Please tell me what you think in a review. It means a lot to me! Also, happy early Thanksgiving, if you live in America. If you don't, or it was earlier for you, then my bad, please don't be offended… Anyway, I've got stuff to do, chapters to plan. See you guys whenever I post the next chapter! Retro signing off. :)


End file.
